As a married, but alone twenty-something, I'm spending my Saturday evening canning jam and trying to can peaches. This was a skill I have been wanting to master for awhile now, and Bryce's deployment and the bounty of fruits in the Northwest seemed like fate telling me to "Go For It!" Ironically enough, I don't eat jam (or jelly) on anything...ever. But that's a story for another time.
Turns out, homemade jam is a hit with my family. More likely, free food is a hit, but I'll take whatever self-esteem boosters I can get. :) Which leads me to today, when I scrambled around at the Farmers' Market to to find end-of-season blackberries (outrageously overpriced, might I add), raspberries, and peaches.
Back to the lesson at hand, I have mashed my raspberries and am cooking them on the stove, preparing to add my gigantic, overflowing (8.5 cups!) bowl of sugar to the mix. I pick the overflowing bowl up, begin to pour, and *whoosh* flames are coming up from the stove top. I panic, because really, what else do you do when something catches fire four inches in front of you and you are left holding a heavy pot of boiling fruit? Well, you may react calmly, but I panic. My Dad comes in, saves the day, I spill boiling fruit on my foot and come away with a valuable, and previously unknown fact: Sugar, yes-plain old granulated sugar, catches on fire when poured on a hot stove top. Having cooked and baked for a good number of years, along with even taking a cooking class in high school, you would think that I would have discovered this before now, but nope.
For the record, the jam does not seem to have suffered any lasting damages from its trauma and is happily sitting in jars on my counter. :)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Upcoming excitement
In a few weeks this will be turning into a travel blog, as my best friend and I leave on a month-long road trip across the country and back. We will be leaving Washington State and heading to the East Coast, before turning South and then returning to California. It's something that we always talked about as kids, and with my summer job coming to an end a few months before Bryce is due home from Afghanistan, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It will be quite an adventure for two girls born and raised in Podunk, Washington. Oh! And did I mention that we are doing this all in less than a month?! Somewhere near 7,500 miles in less than a month; we must be crazy.
I cannot believe that we are leaving in less than two weeks! I brought out my suitcases today. I'll have room for a carry-on sized suitcase for the clothes that I'll need during the trip, and a larger suitcase to put in the trunk. Once I get to California, I won't be back up North until Christmas, so that suitcase has to be filled with anything I will need between now and then. Just looking at that small suitcase and I'm at a loss as to how a month's worth of clothes are going to fit in there.
We'll be alternating between staying with friends and family, campgrounds and hotels. I'm hoping that the majority of places will have internet and this will enable me to record our trip, both for posterity and for our family and friends back home to share in our adventure.
Other than that, I've been caught up in trying to find us a place to stay once we arrive in California. For me at least, housing paperwork seems far more complicated than it needs to be. I still haven't gotten used to doing these things alone, things that you should be doing with your significant other. At least I know he'll be doing his fair share when he comes home. :) Between trip-planning, filling out paperwork and crafting things for our house (assuming the paperwork is ever finished!) I've been pretty busy these last few weeks. But busy makes time fly, and I'm always up for that!
Oh, and for those of you who bake, I made cookies this week with my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, but substituted 1/4 cup of Nutella for 1/4 cup of the peanut butter. As soon as I took the cookies out of the oven I used a measuring spoon to indent the cookies. Once they had cooled, I put Nutella into the indent with a hazelnut on top. :) They were a delicious way to mix up regular peanut butter cookies and a hit at the office.
I cannot believe that we are leaving in less than two weeks! I brought out my suitcases today. I'll have room for a carry-on sized suitcase for the clothes that I'll need during the trip, and a larger suitcase to put in the trunk. Once I get to California, I won't be back up North until Christmas, so that suitcase has to be filled with anything I will need between now and then. Just looking at that small suitcase and I'm at a loss as to how a month's worth of clothes are going to fit in there.
We'll be alternating between staying with friends and family, campgrounds and hotels. I'm hoping that the majority of places will have internet and this will enable me to record our trip, both for posterity and for our family and friends back home to share in our adventure.
Other than that, I've been caught up in trying to find us a place to stay once we arrive in California. For me at least, housing paperwork seems far more complicated than it needs to be. I still haven't gotten used to doing these things alone, things that you should be doing with your significant other. At least I know he'll be doing his fair share when he comes home. :) Between trip-planning, filling out paperwork and crafting things for our house (assuming the paperwork is ever finished!) I've been pretty busy these last few weeks. But busy makes time fly, and I'm always up for that!
Oh, and for those of you who bake, I made cookies this week with my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, but substituted 1/4 cup of Nutella for 1/4 cup of the peanut butter. As soon as I took the cookies out of the oven I used a measuring spoon to indent the cookies. Once they had cooled, I put Nutella into the indent with a hazelnut on top. :) They were a delicious way to mix up regular peanut butter cookies and a hit at the office.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Hello!
This is my first time blogging, so you may have to bear with me a little bit as I get my feet wet.
If you read the About Andy section, you already know a bit, but maybe I can fill in a few details.
I’ve been married for just over a year, but my husband (B) and I have lived apart for over half of that. I was finishing up school, and he was stationed in California. He’s currently deployed to Afghanistan, but we are looking forward to finally living together permanently once he gets back home in a few months. Since he was gone for our anniversary, I think I may plan a surprise for him once we hit 365 days of actually living in the same state. We’re at 120 now, so I have some time to think of something good.
No kids or pets yet, but I’m hoping we can change that once he gets home. Either one works.
Oh, I take that back, I do have a fish, a Beta named Pretty Boy, who survived two years of college with me and countless six hour drives between college and my hometown. He’s pretty much a super-fish. I’m living with my parents while B is deployed, and we have three dogs and two cats that ran rampant around our property (and our neighbors too of course), so for now I am covered on the pet-front.
I was born and raised in SW Washington State, and I swear I spent half of my youth running around in the woods. I still do it now, whenever I feel the need to get away. It gets a little more difficult this time of the year, I can hear the rain through the window and over my iTunes.
And with that I will sign off for the night, it’s past dinnertime and my stomach is grumbling. I’m heading into town tomorrow to try on some dresses. One of the perks of being a Marine wife is that there is a Birthday Ball each year…and that means I get to buy a formal gown and get all dressed up.
If you read the About Andy section, you already know a bit, but maybe I can fill in a few details.
I’ve been married for just over a year, but my husband (B) and I have lived apart for over half of that. I was finishing up school, and he was stationed in California. He’s currently deployed to Afghanistan, but we are looking forward to finally living together permanently once he gets back home in a few months. Since he was gone for our anniversary, I think I may plan a surprise for him once we hit 365 days of actually living in the same state. We’re at 120 now, so I have some time to think of something good.
No kids or pets yet, but I’m hoping we can change that once he gets home. Either one works.
Oh, I take that back, I do have a fish, a Beta named Pretty Boy, who survived two years of college with me and countless six hour drives between college and my hometown. He’s pretty much a super-fish. I’m living with my parents while B is deployed, and we have three dogs and two cats that ran rampant around our property (and our neighbors too of course), so for now I am covered on the pet-front.I was born and raised in SW Washington State, and I swear I spent half of my youth running around in the woods. I still do it now, whenever I feel the need to get away. It gets a little more difficult this time of the year, I can hear the rain through the window and over my iTunes.
And with that I will sign off for the night, it’s past dinnertime and my stomach is grumbling. I’m heading into town tomorrow to try on some dresses. One of the perks of being a Marine wife is that there is a Birthday Ball each year…and that means I get to buy a formal gown and get all dressed up.
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